Pittsburgh Steelers' Mike Tomlin refuses to warm up to weather edge

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin listens to another
coach on the sidelines during the fourth quarter of the Steelers 24-14
win over the New York Giants at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on December 4,
2016. Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI

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The Pittsburgh Steelers
should have an advantage when it comes to the weather conditions
Sunday. The high is expected to be only 23 degrees with wind child
dipping into the teens or single digits. The Dolphins played the
majority of their games in much warmer weather, including eight games in
sunny Miami.

If the Steelers are expecting the weather to be a factor in the game, they're not voicing it.

"I just don't subscribe to that," coach Mike Tomlin
said. "I never really have. When I was in Tampa Bay, we talked about
cold-weather teams coming down there and dying on the vine in September.
As a defensive coach down there, if we didn't get off on third downs,
we died on the vine in September.

"By the same token, I would imagine we have
just as many Florida boys on this team as the Dolphins. I would imagine
we have more guys from Florida on our team than the Dolphins. It's a
global game at this level. I am not ready to subscribe to that and
probably never will."

--Tomlin isn't banking on his team's playoff
experience being a big factor in the game, either. The Steelers are in
the playoffs for a third consecutive season and for the fourth time in
the past six years while the Dolphins are in the playoffs for the first
time since 2008.

The experience factor is most noticeable at quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger will be making his 16th playoff start while Matt Moore will be making his first.

"If it is one, it's not an acknowledged one
from my perspective," Tomlin said. It's not something we're going to use
in preparation, or lean on in terms of preparing for the game. We're
going to focus on the things that are in our control. That's our
preparation, and ultimately, our play. We have very little control over
how they're preparing, what their mindset is, or what they intend to do
to us schematically. We just better respect them and be prepared for
their very best."

--Receiver Antonio Brown
didn't quite have the type of season he anticipated. Coming off a
campaign in which he caught 136 passes for 1,834 yards, Brown had goals
of setting NFL records for catches and receiving yards in a season.

But after falling short of those goals - he
finished with 106 catches for 1,284 yards - Brown isn't stressing about
his stats. He said the one and only goal is winning a championship.
Receivers are sometimes the last players to associate with being a team
player, but Brown has made some big strides in recent years when it
comes to the way he approaches the game.

"It's awesome to hear him say that because we
have had quite a few discussions over the years about that," Tomlin
said. "How many balls can you catch? 110? 125? At the end of the day, he
is dynamic. He steps into the stadium, and he is a guy that you better
prepare to reckon with. What he is chasing is a little bit of football
immortality. It's legacy. Those things are always involving championship
play."